After All.

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast lobe of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" (Lamentations 3:21-24 ESV)

This last week has been amazing. Getting settled in to my flat, getting to know my roommate better, loving on children, and getting to see God's people worshipping in many different settings. And through it all the lyrics of one of my favorite songs were always on my mind: "After all, You are constant. After all, You are only good. After all, You are sovereign. Not for a moment did you forsake me." What an incredible reminder.

Do you ever have those days where you wish that you could go back in time and put a word in the Bible in capitol letters? Just to make it stand out more. To make people notice it more. In the verse I started this post with, that word would be HOPE. I have seen hope in so many peoples eyes this last week. Every where from fellow bideshi (that's Nepali for 'foreigner') on Sunday morning, to the children at the campus I fell in love with this week. They all have HOPE. The same hope that I have. Hope in eternal life, in a God whose love never fails. Whose mercies are new EVERY morning.

I even saw that hope as I hiked to the top of a mountain with my teammates who are still in country with me. We passed house after house, home after home, that are no bigger than my bedroom. With upwards of 5 people living in them. Made of mud and sticks. And I thought "God why is this fair? These people have nothing. And I have everything I could ever want. Why are they the ones who have to live these hard, sad lives?" I got really down on myself. Almost depressed. And then I saw their eyes. I saw that HOPE. The hope that we share in Christ Jesus. And I realized that they had everything they will ever need. Everything they could ever want...in Christ and Christ alone. Whoa. Talk about a reality check. They don't need fancy cars, or any kind of transportation; a smart phone, or any kind of communication; hair products, anything other than a hairbrush. They have it all. God is all they need. All they want.

And those lyrics came to mind again. "After all, You are CONSTANT. After all, You are ONLY GOOD. After all, You are SOVEREIGN." God is still God here in Nepal. And even when I don't understand him, he is good. All the time. And the Nepali Christians know that. We were visiting with Ram Saran, a Nepali pastor trained by Joel Garrison, and he spoke of how lonely he gets, and how hard it is being so far away from fellowship, and from support. But he prays to God. And God gives him comfort. And Ram said that God sent us to him, because God knew how lonely he was that day. How incredibly humbling to be such a small part of God's kingdom, and of his plan, but to have made such a big impact in the life of this servant.

While we were visiting with Ram, we were able to witness three baptisms of Nepali believers. So amazing to watch these professions of faith in a culture where it is unacceptable to follow Jesus. These men and women were testaments to how God is at work in this country!

I'm still in awe that God chose me, ME, to be where I am now. He had his choice of anyone in the world, and he chose me. They are people who are far more qualified than I am to be here, and yet he chose me. That's pretty cool. And incredibly humbling.

Please continue to pray for me! I have begun to build relationships with the missionaries here on the field, and I am excited about the friendships that I'm forming. I have also been able to build friendships with some of the younger girls at the campus; Sanjita, Sunita, Babita, and Astha have become my little buddies. Pray that I would be able to break down some barriers of shyness and unfamiliarity with the older girls. And pray that God would continue to be at work in my heart! So far He has been a constant comfort to me, and I am so thankful that this far the transition has been easy. I know hard days are coming, but I also know that I have a CONSTANT God to lean on.

God Bless!